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Some Things You'll Need Know To Be The First On Your Block To Get To Space
The long list of general referencesLow Earth Orbit on the Cheap because low Earth orbit is halfway there, and you're probably not ready to pay twenty million dollars.
NASA has some awesome resources in their Technical Reports Servers. This one, at Marshall, has the Space Vehicle Design Criteria Papers and a lot more. Browse by year or subject or search for what you need.
Astronautics Stuctures Manual, Volume I, Volume II and Volume III - NASA's complete hand-design document for building rocketships.
Dryden Tecnical Reports Server
NACA has some very good information.
Glenn something interesting.
Stennis Space Center Technical Reports Server
NASA Astrophysics Data System Has scanned book, journal articles and historical material. Searchable.
UC Davis Physical Science and Engineering Library
Defense Trade Controls - Reference Library Stay on top of the regulations, this site covers exports.
This site has some very useful online liquid rocket calculators and an excellent glossary. The calculators are released under the GPL.
Books Available from Amazon. Please support aRocket by purchasing from our links.
Long list of general references
Spacefaring and Getting to Space
The Millennial Project
Marshall T. Savage
Empryean Publishing Ltd.
ISBN 0-9633914-9-6
In The Millennial Project,Marshall Savage presents a bold vision of humanity's future. Many of his ideas are pretty far out there, but strangely appealing. His work reminds me of work by Freeman Dyson in its scope and imagination. Nothing he suggests seems impossible, I encourage you to see what you think.
Near Earth
To Rise from Earth
by Wayne Lee
Checkmark Books; 2nd edition (February 2000)
ISBN: 0816040923
Visually stunning, To Rise From Earth is particularly impressive at first. What it lacks in substance, it more than makes up for in style. It is an introduction to space, including the basics of orbital dynamics. It is a great gift for those not ready to tackle the calculus of orbits but want a good overview.
Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space
by Stanley Schmidt, Robert Zubrin
John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition January 25, 1996
ISBN: 0471135615
Halfway to Anywhere
by G. Harry Stine
M Evans & Co; (April 1998
ISBN: 0871318474
Business Matters
Making Space Happen: Private Space Ventures and the Visionaries Behind Them
Paula Berinstein
Plexus Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 09666748-3-9
In Making Space Happen, Ms. Berinstein presents profiles of several striving to lead space development in fresh directions. I applaud her efforts and look forward to reading a revised edition reflecting current developers.
Silicon Sky: How One Small Start-Up Went over the Top to Beat the Big Boys into Satellite Heaven
Gary Dorsey
Perseus Books
ISBN 0-7382-0094-8
Silicon Sky is quite the rousing read. You are taken the scenes as a small group of satellite engineers begin to turn decades of space practice upsidedown, showing that "smaller, cheaper, quicker" really CAN work. The book leaves you with a down feeling that somehow the whole enterprise is about to fall on it's head. I note since the book was published, Orbcom has become the most successful of all the satellite constellations, despite the other businesses sinking around them.
The Logic of Microspace Technology and Management of Minimum-Cost Space Missions
Rick Fleeter
Microcosm Press
ISBN: 1-881883-11-6 (pb)
ISBN: 0-7923-6028-1 (hb)
Rick Fleeter is not really an author, despite crafting The Logic of Microspace. However, given that he is a jack of all trades simply by being the president and CEO of a small technology company, it comes as no surprise he would keep my attention with this book. Full of humour, the first half is an overview of microsat technology and guide to the management of a small company. The second part truly inspired me; a warm and personal trip to a an alternate universe where microsats have enriched the lives of every person on the planet through a multitude of new services and markets.